Seal



Nov. 7, 1933. w. M. BROOKS 1,934,341

SEAL

Filed Sept. 1, 1932 INVENTOR i r d m Brae/Ks. l WNW Patented Nov. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention, relates to seals, and has more particularly reference to seals, such as poultry seals, adapted to be closed by one hand, and is an improvement upon the seal shown in Patent i No. 1,820,595 of August 25, 1931.

In the construction shown in said patent, the bringing together of the free ends of the strip of sheet material acts to inter-engage the ends but, in addition thereto, a tab has to be bent back to complete the sealing operation. It has been found that, in some instances, the operator omits this last step and consequently it is possible for an unscrupulous person, by careful manipulation, to remove the seal and use it over again.

The object of this invention is to produce a construction by means of which the mere bringing together of the free ends of the strip of material will effectually lock the seal without the necessity of performing any subsequent bending operation.

In the accompanying drawing the invention is disclosed in a concrete and preferred form in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a seal embodying the invention, looking down from the top of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view substantially on the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of the seal in side elevation, showing the beginning of the sealing operation;

Fig. 41s a view similar to Fig. 3, but with the parts in section, showing an intermediate stage in the sealing operation; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the sealing operation completed.

The seal consists of a strip of sheet material 1 having a bending zone 2 intermediate its ends. One end of the strip carries a locking member 3, and the other end carries a spring latch or tongue 4 extending rearwardly from said end, and also carries a deflecting member 5 in rear of the spring latch. The latch and deflecting member are in difierent planes to receive-between them the locking member. It will now be seen that when the seal is to be applied to a turkey leg, indicated diagrammatically at 6, said seal is grasped between two fingers as indicated in Fig.

3, and the pressure thus exerted brings, by reason of the bending zone, the free ends of the seal together. In so doing, locking member 3 passes beneath deflecting member 5 thereby depressing spring latch 4, until said locking member passes beyond the latch when the latter springs back and the locking member is held beneath both the deflecting member and the latch. The seal is therefore incapable of being opened by retraction of the parts, and furthermore access to the parts, for the purpose of unlawful manipulation is prevented because the locking member is on the interior of the seal and therefore not accessible.

I claim: A seal including: a strip of sheet material to be bent into substantially circular form with the ends of the strip overlapping, one end of said strip having a locking member, and the other end of said strip having a spring latch, the free end of said spring latch extending rearwardly from said other end of the strip and a deflecting member in rear of the free end of the spring latch, said latch and deflecting member being in different planes to receive between them the looking member, and said locking member, when the ends of the strip are brought together, passing beneath the deflecting member thereby depressing the latch until the locking member passes beyond the latch when the latter springs back and the locking member is held beneath both the deflecting member and the latch.

WINFRED M. BROOKS.

Nil 

